Retention for file based S3 backup (new format)
  • P72endragon
    0
    I'm creating a new file-based backup to S3. The retention settings seem to have completely changed since I last setup a job, guess this is the new format? I need some help understanding how these settings work please:

    • Do not purge (keep backup forever): this seems straight forward enough. I assume every time a file changes, each version will be backed up and all those versions will be kept forever?
    • Keep backup for (x) (years/months/etc): I assume this deletes anything backed up before this cutoff? What about a file that doesn't change very often, will it keep the last version even if it's outside the cutoff? If not, it sounds like there might a danger of losing files that don't change very often with this option?
    • GFS: I understand file based backups are all incremental, so how does GFS work for this?
    P72endragon Options
  • David Gugick
    118
    ↪P72endragon
    If you want to continue using the legacy backup format, you can. We have only added the new backup format - we have not replaced the old one. Just use the drop-down on the File / Image-Based Backup toolbar options and select the style you prefer.

    If you want to take advantage of the new features, including client-side deduplication, faster performance, synthetic full backups, integrated consistency checks, and GFS style retention, then you need to start using the new format.

    All file backups are incremental once the initial full is completed. GFS retention is about how much granularity in restores you need over time. Generally, you need less granular restores as data get older. So, you may want Weekly backups saved for 8 weeks to provide more options for file versions that may need to be restored, but you only need Monthly backups kept for 6 months, and then annual backups kept for 3 years. That allows the product to delete backup data that is not needed to meet those requirements - as compared to the legacy backup format that was version-based. Version-based retention makes it difficult or impossible to keep old versions without the risk of increased storage of needing to keep all versions. More about our GFS implementation is available in Help:
    https://help.msp360.com/cloudberry-backup/backup/about-backups/gfs/gfs
    https://help.msp360.com/cloudberry-backup/backup/about-backups/gfs/gfs-assignment-examples
    David Gugick Options
  • James
    1
    Can you please clarify, if I have a file job set to Keep Backup for 1 Month with all GFS options disabled, does it purge files that have not been modified in over a month? Does it purge deleted files after 1 month?

    So say a file was created in 8/1/2021, I'm assuming it will get backed up, but if that file it is never modified, will it be purged after one month? The "Keep backup for" sounds a bit scary, it makes it sound like any file backed up will be deleted if not modified.
    James Options
  • Steve Putnam
    35
    Understand that retention policies apply to versions of files.
    If you backup a photo, which will not get modified, it will never get purged.
    Files that don’t change don’t get purged.
    It should say “Keep old versions for” x days/weeks/months/years.
    Steve Putnam Options
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